With grateful acknowledgement to Clement Clarke Moore, whose poem “Twas the night before Christmas” provided the inspiration for this more contemporary rendering, here is a holiday greeting to one and all:
’T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The landlord had hung the eviction notice with care,
In hopes that the tenants would soon be outa there;
The children were nestled all snug ‘neath the park bench,
Shivering through the chill, their teeth in a clench,
Dear mamma was at the soup kitchen, and I with the kids,
We’d just settled into another night on the skids;
When out in the park there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bench to see what was the matter.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a handful of police, with a cruiser to steer,
“Move along, move along, move along, now,”
They whistled and shouted, with a bristlin’ of brow;
And then in a twinkling, I heard a loud call,
“Housing for everyone, housing for all”;
I saw the UN Special Rapporteur proclaim with a jolly great call,
“It’s really quite simple: policy, funding, programs and all”;
And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”